Tobreluts: Mythology Reloaded
2017. Nov. 26. - 2018. Feb. 25.
Olga Tobreluts is a leading figure in the fine arts scene in St. Petersburg, whose work has attracted international attention. She regularly exhibits her paintings, video art, and electronic graphics at exhibitions and media art festivals. She has won numerous awards, is a leading figure at several art schools, and is an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts. She began her university studies in architecture, then graduated from the computer graphics and animation department as a scholarship holder at ART + COM in Berlin. His debut in the early 1990s coincided with the social restructuring that followed the socialist era. He joined the circle of artists at the New Academy, founded at that time by Timur Novikov, where he became head of the New Technologies Department.
In his works, he is primarily concerned with reinterpreting the theory of classicism and the search for artistic beauty. He formulates his theories on the relevance of fundamental aesthetic values to the present day, while also addressing questions of art and social theory through his chosen medium, video and electrographics. At MODEM’s exhibition Tobreluts – Mythology Reloaded, the artist presents several independent stories in which he compares the visual historicity of realism and abstraction with the help of literary works, historical figures, mythological characters, and examples from the visual arts. His series include, among others, the story of the Pietà and the Resurrection; a rethinking of Kandinsky’s art theory on the relationship between points and lines; a discussion of differences in worldviews based on Henrik Ibsen’s drama; and adaptations of mythological stories (the heroic deeds of Heracles, Cupid and Psyche).
Curator: Kónya Ábel
Artist: Olga Tobreluts